Discrimination Against Students in the Disability Community
Originally posted on November 10, 2018 on Facebook Notes on my Facebook page
I actually wrote this as an essay in my Intro to Exceptionalities course that I took in my first semester at Bucks County Community College. The assignment was an Annotated Bibliography where the prompt was to write about a specific disability, what life is like for families of individuals in the disability community, culture, language, technology, instructional practices, legal protections, or issues in Special Education or that happen to the disability community. For this assignment, I decided to write about discrimination against students in the disability community. I chose this topic since it is one of the top social issues related to disabilities that I really care about.
CONTENT WARNING #1: Some of the wording in the cited information is outdated and I do not talk this way but am sharing it anyway to educate for historical purposes about what wording was okay to be used when discussing disability back in those generations. We people have grown since then and continue to.
CONTENT WARNING #2: I would also like to mention that I am not a lawyer, and this blog post is written for educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide any legal disability rights services or other disability/mental health professional services. If you suspect that your or someone else's legal disability rights are being violated under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or any other disability rights laws, it is okay to get help and I highly recommending seeking help from a lawyer who is qualified to do so.
TRIGGER WARNING: In addition, if you or someone know has experienced discrimination against having disability/disabilities or any other differences, this blog post may be triggering. If you need support right now, please seek help from a therapist or other mental health professional or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada.
Source 1:
Ceylan, R. r., & Aral, N. (2016). The Opinions of Classroom Teachers and Normally Developing Children on Inclusive Practice. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 8(2), 12-22.
The general population defines "inclusive education" in different ways (Ceylan, Aral, 2016). This article was about a research experiment completed on the opinions of teachers and elementary students without disabilities about inclusion in the classroom. Inclusive education is typically "defined as the education of children with special needs and normally developing children in the same classroom" (Osborne, Dimattia, 1994). Acceptance of students with disabilities is an important factor in this educational movement.
There are many positive and negative things that happen when it comes to inclusive education in the classroom. The teachers and students had a lack of knowledge about inclusion in the classroom used for this study's research experiment. The teachers said that they experience many problems with their students with disabilities such as "the number of children in the class, behavioral problems, difficulty with lessons, lack of time, acceptance of the child with special needs, lack of knowledge, and classroom management" (Ceylan, Aral, 2016). When a general education teacher and the other students have a problem with a child with disabilities in their class, especially with acceptance, this can cause issues in that child's education. There were many social issues that children with disabilities were encountering with their classmates without disabilities such as bullying and social isolation. It was found that regular education students did not want to be friends with students in Special Education. Students in Special Education struggled with having the confidence to make friends because of their quiet demeanor and lack of social skills. Regular education students are being disrupted in class by the behaviors of their classmates with disabilities. All teachers, especially who teach general education, should be teaching their students more about inclusion in order to increase acceptance of the disability community.
The amount of inclusive education varies in all classrooms in today's world. It is important for all educators to understand and increase their knowledge about inclusion of students with disabilities and how it affects all of the children in the classroom.
Related Links:
Source 2:
Bon, S. C., & Osborne Jr., A. G. (2016). Chapter 5: STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Discrimination Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Yearbook Of Education Law, 130-134.
The willingness to provide the services required under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to students with disabilities varies in all schools. In this article, the parents of students with disabilities were claiming that their child's school was not allowing their child to have the services required to meet their needs. These parents filed Section 504, ADA, and IDEA claims in court against these schools after what they did, which happens most of the time in these types of situations. Unfortunately, "students who qualify as individuals with disabilities under Section 504 and the ADA, are not always protected under the IDEA" (Bon, Osborne, 2016).
Sadly, too many schools and teachers fail to follow the Special Education laws too often. Some school officials will choose to accommodate and include only some or no students with disabilities at all for discriminatory reasons. In result of when this occurs, "parents increasingly raise Section 504 and ADA claims charging that school officials intentionally discriminate against their children by failing to accommodate, denying benefits, or excluding them from participation in public school programs" (Bon, Osborne, 2016). When a child with disabilities is not provided the services and accommodations that they are required to receive at school by law, it can cause them to really struggle in their education. Services and accommodations are not the only thing some school officials neglect by law according to this study. If schools do not help a student with disabilities when they are being bullied or harassed by their peers and "retaliate against the student for reporting these incidents" it is against Section 504 and ADA. Teachers should be trained more on how to handle these situations in order to prevent being accused of discrimination.
There are many teachers in all academic subject areas that obey or disobey the Special Education laws created to prevent discrimination against disabilities. It is important school officials to understand and increase their knowledge about ways to prevent discrimination against their students with disabilities in the school environment.
Source 3:
Dieringer, S. s., & Judge, L. W. (2015). Inclusion in Extracurricular Sport: A How-To Guide for Implementation Strategies. Physical Educator, 72(1), 87-101.
Acceptance, inclusion, and meeting the needs of everyone with disabilities is very important. This article is about why it is so important to include all students with disabilities in extracurricular sports. The article also identifies implementation strategies for including students with disabilities into different sports based extracurricular opportunities. One author has a specialty within the area of Special Education while the other has a specific expertise within the area of sport and exercise science. The intended audience would be for schools in general but would be targeted more specifically at schools with developing or developed Special Education programs that intend to provide its students with equal access to different opportunities and extracurricular activities.
The article discusses in depth the history of sport and youth with disabilities, the potential barriers to implementation, and the current level of participation in extracurricular sports of among individuals with disabilities. Significant legal context is provided in order to allow the reader to better understand the increased inclusion and participation of youth with disabilities in physical and extracurricular activity. The significant barriers are also addressed in order to identify what will be needed to create more opportunities for youth with disabilities. More awareness needs to be brought to the need to improve acceptance and inclusion within physical education. The process for finding a solution will require cooperation and collaboration between educators, members of the community, and advocates for students with disabilities.
Within educational environments, the safety needs and desire for fun of all students must be taken into consideration when making opportunities for physical activity available. Even if there are limitations within existing resources, greater organization and reaching out to the greater community can reduce and eliminate barriers that prevent all students from being included and physical activities because that is the right of all students. Ability level does not matter in this case and all students will benefit by effectively implementing thoughtful strategies for inclusion. Support from the government and those willing to advocate for those with disabilities is a major component of designing these strategies. The attitude necessary for decreasing exclusion must be one that appreciates inclusion as a whole and promotes positivity within the educational environment.
If you or a loved one is affected by discrimination, remember that you are not alone and there is hope. If you or someone you know needs support right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada.
You can also visit The Mighty's hotline resources page by clicking on this link: https://themighty.com/suicide-prevention-resources/
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